The present invention is directed to an apparatus and method for effecting an improved electrical connection structure between a first electrical component and a second electrical component. The present invention may be employed to advantage in electrically coupling electrical devices with electrical devices as well as in coupling electrical devices with printed circuit board circuitry carried on a substrate.
Electrical components, such as a component and an electrical circuit board or two electrical devices, are commonly electrically coupled using electrical lead structures to establish desired electrical connections. A consequence of employing such electrical leads in effecting coupling is that there is a space established between the components in their installed orientation. That is, there is an inter-component volume defined between the coupled components that presents a locus for collecting contamination such as dust, metal particles, ceiling tile debris and other contaminants from the manufacturing environment and from the operating environment in which the product is located during various intervals of its life. Such contaminants can collect to sufficient amounts during the life of a product to have a deleterious affect on the operation of the product or even to preclude operation of the product. In particular, product failure often results from such contamination because the contaminants are conductive, or the contaminants harbor moisture, or because of a combination of the contaminants being conductive and harboring moisture.
Such problems caused by a build up of contaminants in inter-component loci have been recognized and some efforts have been made to ameliorate the problem and its effects. Some manufacturers have employed conformal coatings including crack filling foams, potting materials or other similar materials. Such approaches to solving the problem of inter-component contamination add expense to manufacturing a product because of the cost of the materials employed, labor required for applying the materials, cure time or other processing times necessitated by employing the materials, chemical disposal costs associated with the materials used, difficulty of rework and repair and other factors. Another attempt at solving the problem of inter-component contamination has been to employ a protective tubing on at least one lead that connects components. By way of example, a woven glass tubing may be installed in surrounding relation with one of the inter-component leads to protect the lead from shorting through or by contaminants. A significant drawback of such an attempted solution is that the tubing is difficult to install, thereby adding to labor costs of production. Further the tubing provides protection to only those leads that are equipped with the tubing; if increased protection for a product is sought by applying more tubing to more leads, labor costs increase.
There is a need for an apparatus and method for effecting an improved connection structure between components that resists contamination build up between the components.
There is also a need for an apparatus and method for effecting an improved connection structure between components that is inexpensive and easy to employ.